Donald Trump has been busy saving America money by cutting funding to a range of international programs that offer no benefit to the taxpayer.

Good for him.

If only we had a political class interested in value rather than virtue.

One of these decisions has created a headline I bet no one expected to read this morning: Funding Freeze Targets Condoms in Gaza.

After reading it twice, I quickly checked to make sure this wasn’t the work of the BabylonBee.

According to the White House, there was $37 million ear-marked for the World Health Organisation (naturally, that was scrapped), and in the next breath the press secretary said there was a further $50 million on its way out the door to fund condoms in Gaza.

‘That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money,’ said Karoline Leavitt.

The Times of Israel quoted former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli-Palestinian affairs during the Biden area, who called the $50 million claim ‘outlandish’.

‘It’s possible that $50 million is put aside for sexual health or something of that nature, which would include gynecology and many other services, but definitely not condoms alone.’

It is doubtful the American public care about semantics. Any amount of money on its way to Gaza is an outrage.

‘We have seen the Biden Administration spend money like drunken sailors,’ added Karoline Leavitt.

‘Why not give organisations more time to plan for the fact that they are about to lose, in some cases, really crucial federal funding?’ asked one reporter.

There was a warning period. Donald Trump made it very clear in his campaign for the presidency that wasting money would come to an immediate end. If organisations did not take this promise seriously, that’s their problem.

My browser history suffered researching this, but Gaza’s condom allowance has been misused. The Jerusalem Post reported that Gaza launched improvised explosive devices, which included condoms and balloons, into Israel in 2017.

‘Condoms and balloons with explosive devices attached to them landed in schoolyards, agricultural fields, and highways and caused significant physical and psychological damage … the condoms were supplied by either local Palestinian organisations or by international humanitarian aid organisations. The helium was initially imported, intended for medical purposes.’

In 2019, the Chicago Tribune carried the headline, Flaming condoms, kites, balloons from Gaza used to set fields ablaze in southern Israel.

Described as ‘the newest weapon against Israel’, the report described how this sexual health aid money is misused by terror groups.

‘Sometimes tied together for added buoyancy, the inflated prophylactics are attached to gas-soaked rags, other burning items or explosive devices, then flown over the border like balloons into southern Israel, where they set fire to farmlands and nature reserves … an estimated 6,000 acres have been destroyed in hundreds of blazes caused by flaming kites, helium balloons, and now condoms.’

Given the use of condoms as a weapon of war has been going on for years, why would the American government assign millions of dollars in funding to give the terrorists more?

It makes you wonder what sort of wasteful and idiotic programs the Australian government is funding in foreign countries that you never hear about…